This invention relates to a stalk vacuum cleaner, i.e. a vacuum cleaner including a casing containing a suction system and a dust bag, said casing on the one hand being manipulatable by hand by means of a stalk attached to the casing and on the other hand having a rigidly built-in air-suction socket at the lower end portion of the casing. To the suction system selectively special differently formed nozzles, but also further special suction attachments (sweeper, electrical polisher) may be connected rigidly or detachably.
Next to these stalk vacuum cleaners, the so-called floor vacuum cleaners are conventional, i.e. vacuum cleaners wherein the suction system and the filter means associated therewith are accommodated in a casing designed movable on the floor, at the rigidly built-in air-suction socket of said casing a movable suction hose being provided which also serves the purpose of pulling the casing from one place to the other. Such a movable hose offers the advantage that it permits various different uses of the vacuum cleaner next to the usual cleaning of the floor which is permitted by the suction hose movable in all directions, e.g. a convenient vacuum-cleaning of objects not located on the floor such as furniture, curtains, walls.
In order to obtain this advantage of versatile use also for the handy stalk vacuum cleaners, it is known to provide for them a loose, thus not permanently device-connected hose which is to be joined to the suction socket only upon requirement. Such an assembly generally is considered to be inconvenient because of complicatedness thereof and the subsequent often inferior handiness of the stalk vacuum cleaner; it is therefore mostly not done, when working only in between with the hose, e.g. in locations otherwise less accessible.
Therefore, stalk vacuum cleaners have also been introduced wherein at the casing a further suction opening is provided to which upon requirement a movable hose can be connected which is usable as suction hose only by switching over at least one valve. This solution also does not improve the handiness of the device.
Furthermore, the German Auslegeschrift No. 1,208,457 discloses a device which is designed as a floor vacuum cleaner and which has a suction nozzle located directly at the casing, said suction nozzle next to its downwardly directed mouthpiece opening having a second suction opening with a suction hose firmly connected to the device, when using the second suction opening the nozzle mouthpiece having to be closed relative to the second suction opening. When closing the mouthpiece opening (floor nozzle), a valve mechanism is to be operated, whereas for closing the suction hose the mouthpiece thereof is to be applied suckingly to the casing wall in using a rubber seal.
The foregoing proposals, however, have associated material disadvantages:
(a) for the two air paths to be kept separated (normal or with hose), a valve system for switching over the suction flow must be provided; PA1 (b) since the air cross section in the suction path and the flow direction of the suction air change in most designs, a blocking of the suction path difficult to eliminate can readily occur; PA1 (c) as a result of leaks at the joints and switching valves, losses occur in the event a high investment of seals is not made.